


Addressing The Arjun In The Room

by Marzi



Category: The Expanse (TV), The Expanse Series - James S. A. Corey
Genre: F/F, F/M, Fluff, Multi, Open Marriage, Polyamorous Character, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-22
Updated: 2018-05-22
Packaged: 2019-05-10 06:59:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14732127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marzi/pseuds/Marzi
Summary: "Alright, I lied earlier.” Bobbie said. “I need to talk about it.”





	Addressing The Arjun In The Room

**Author's Note:**

> Because y'all can pry happily married Avasaralas from my cold dead fucking hands. But in a less dramatic note, as supportive as I am about Chrisjen being in relationships with other people, I am always a little sad about how infrequently Arjun's role in her life is addressed when that happens.

Bobbie could track how she had gotten here in a few simple steps. The drop ship brought her to earth, and it came from Luna. She got to Luna from the _Roci,_ which had taken her from the Jupiter AO. Clean, simple to understand line of progress. What she was having a harder time figuring out was how she ended up in this bed. She sat up, heard one of the pair snuffle on her right, and felt Cotyar shift on her left. He was actually sprawled out somewhat, which made Bobbie wonder just what in the hell he had stashed near the corner of the bed he thought he could access with his foot if the need arose. It was a question for another time.

 

“Alright, I lied earlier.” She said. “I need to talk about it.”

 

The light came on at her right, Arjun moving with the practiced ease of someone who had done the same action a thousand times before in the same room. The light on her left came on at almost exactly the same time, Cotyar moving with the efficiency of someone who was somehow always aware of his surroundings, no matter how foreign. The both of them were sitting up, while Chrisjen still lay on the bed. Only the thin press of her mouth told Bobbie she was awake.

 

Bobbie ignored her, for now, and looked Arjun straight in the face. “I don't want to have sex with you.”

 

The slightly bemused crinkle of his brow was offset by his smile. He had one of the kindest faces Bobbie had ever seen. She remembered thinking that the first time she saw him. Knowing all he had endured in his life, she knew that kindness was hard won.

 

“Alright,” he said. Simple as that, case closed.

 

It had never really been on the table in the first place, but Bobbie had to say it out loud. The decades of marriage made it so Arjun and Chrisjen had plenty of shorthand to communicate with, and Bobbie didn't know enough of it yet, wouldn't ever know enough of it, to be able to fully rely on it. Co-op marriages weren't an uncommon thing in the system, and large families were prominent on Mars. Whatever she had just ended up in was something else, and she was the last to arrive to it. Cotyar even had a place in their lives before she did, as fucking depressing as that opening chapter was.

 

“I don't think I'm ever going to go to book club.”

 

Cotyar shifted at her side. He had been the one to accept the invitation, and the more Bobbie thought about it, the more that was about the business he needed to conclude with Arjun than whatever she needed to figure out about where her boundaries were. His hand settled on her shoulder a moment. It felt supportive. It also felt like a thank you. She had made the right call then.

 

“I don't want to be a late night at the office,” she continued.

 

“You're in my fucking house.” Chrisjen's voice was even huskier when she was sleepy. She finally opened her eyes. “You aren't.”

 

“Good.” Bobbie nodded. She heard Cotyar chuckle before he let his hand drop from her back.

 

Chrisjen had told her, _I have late nights at the office, and he has book club_. The two of them had settled on extracurricular marital activities a long time ago. Bobbie had stared at her blankly until the story of how she and Arjun met-- at an erotic poetry reading that Chrisjen's university roommate had dragged her to-- had been told in full. _He has a lovely reading voice, you should listen to him sometime._ Bobbie was sure he did, she still didn't want to have sex with him. She also didn't dwell too long on the fact that Arjun hosted orgies. Not because it bothered her, but because as far as could tell, it had nothing to do with her. Except, it had to do with how Chrisjen ran her marriage, and wasn't Bobbie a part of that now?

 

“Was that all you needed to say?” Chrisjen's voice was drifting towards an unintelligible mumble, but her eyes were open and focused. She would be awake as long as Bobbie needed her to be.

 

“I can't sleep in the middle.” Back on the _Roci,_ she and Cotyar had slept with Chrisjen between them. A natural extension to the fact that when she was up and about both of them were determined to keep an eye on her and their surroundings. No avenue of attack left undefended.

 

It was Cotyar who sighed. “Then move.”

 

Bobbie crawled over Chrisjen and her husband. They were both slight enough that even with her arm slung over both of them her hand could still reach Chrisjen's thigh or ribs. With her moving, Cotyar filled the space she left behind. Chrisjen's hand slid under his shirt immediately, resting as near to the scar on his side as she could get. Arjun settled back against his wife, one arm around her waist. Bobbie looked down at the three of them, mind already at ease. Then she looked over at the lamp Cotyar had left on, and twisted around to look at the one behind her.

 

She fumbled with the base of the stand for a moment before giving up. “How do I turn the light off?”

 

Chrisjen mumbled something obscene, Arjun laughed and kissed his wife's shoulder, Cotyar stretched out one hand behind him to turn off his lamp. Arjun put a hand on her side to get her attention, then pointed.

 

“It can be a bit tricky, but it's simple once you find it.”

 

Bobbie moved slowly, but she got it in the end.

 


End file.
